What does your accent say about you? The perception of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish varieties by native and non-native speakers of Spanish

Abstract Individuals can make judgments on a person’s personality and socioeconomic status in as little as 30 s after hearing their voice. This study investigates the perceptions of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish varieties by native Cuban and Peninsular Spanish speakers, second language (L2) Spanish learners, and monolingual English speakers. Specifically, it analyzes whether (i) these speakers differ in their ability to recognize these varieties, and (ii) the perceptions of these groups differ to determine unconscious biases. Fifty adult listeners rated 5 Cuban (Havana) and 5 Peninsular (Madrid) disguised female voices. They completed a Bilingual Language Profile (BLP) questionnaire and a survey to examine unconscious accent categorization and perceptions. The results revealed that individuals do in fact make unconscious assumptions on an individual’s voice, as the Peninsular variety was often attributed to higher education and income levels and was closely associated with a higher rank (CEO) position compared to the Cuban variety on behalf of all groups. Furthermore, native Cuban listeners were found to outperform all groups in correct categorization of the accents heard. This study illustrates how perceptions toward stigmatized language varieties transcend native speakers of a language.